


Look At Me

by Eavenne



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Best Friends, Childhood Friends, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 22:00:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14090586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eavenne/pseuds/Eavenne
Summary: In which Gilbert is jealous of Roderich's friendship with Erzsébet, but it all turns out fine in the end.





	Look At Me

**Author's Note:**

> Human names are as follows:
> 
> Prussia = Gilbert  
> Hungary = Erzsébet  
> Liechtenstein = Erika  
> Ukraine = Irina  
> Austria = Roderich  
> Switzerland = Basch
> 
> Enjoy!

Her eyes strained fiercely against the setting sun, and he couldn’t look away.

“No, Gilbert,” she said, her voice dangerously soft, her gaze firm and determined. “You don’t get to insult my friends.”

His eyes narrowed. Honestly, it was all really stupid. 

…Alright, fine, he couldn’t deny that he was the biggest idiot of all. 

“Gilbert?” Erzsébet prompted, raising an eyebrow. “Are you going to explain yourself, or just stand there?”

No, Gilbert couldn’t explain himself. If he replied with _“I did what I did and said what I said because I can’t stand him”_ , he’d come off like a jerk. Which, to be fair, wasn’t an inaccurate assessment of his behaviour. But it was more than that. 

Oh, it was so much more than that.

xxx

It had always been just the two of them.

Gilbert and Erzsébet: neighbours, childhood friends, inseparable little rascals who were everywhere at once, terrorizing the neighbourhood. 

In the beginning, they hadn’t spoken much. A simple understanding of the other sufficed – no time was wasted on words when they could just have fun instead. They were wild, reckless and carefree; they were children who revelled in their youth.

Back then, life was good.

Slowly, things changed. It became weird and strange for members of the opposite sex to be close friends and playmates, so they began to drift apart. Perhaps if time had been allowed to run its course they wouldn’t have remained friends at all, because sometimes they’d go days without interacting with each other beyond random greetings as they passed in the streets or the school halls.

Without Gilbert’s rough influence, Erzsébet began to mellow out. Surrounded by sweet girly girls like Erika and Irina, she grew out her hair, started caring about her appearance, and found more traditionally feminine hobbies – as the years went by she looked less and less like that little daredevil who staged mock swordfights, and more like the popular cheerleader she became in high school.

At first, he’d thought it was pretty lame. Then his beloved grandfather passed away, Erzsébet flew worriedly to his side, and Gilbert discovered that she hadn’t really changed much at all.

Even if her appearance was different, his childhood best friend was still willing to stay on the phone with him for hours, show up at his house to comfort him when he was upset, and back off when he needed space. 

And, really, that was all that mattered.

Once again, they began to spend more time together, and it was then that Gilbert and Erzsébet truly got to know one another. The simple understanding they’d shared as children silently bloomed and grew – their friendship was an unspoken agreement, a quiet promise to always be there for each other. When Gilbert was lonely, Erzsébet was there to take his hand; when Erzsébet’s boyfriend cheated on her, Gilbert was there to offer his shoulder.

And when he was unable to ignore the hope that bubbled up within him even as Erzsébet leaned miserably on his arm, Gilbert realised that he really was helplessly in love with his best friend.

xxx

The thing about Erzsébet’s ex-boyfriend was that while Gilbert knew of his existence he hadn’t met the guy, not even once. Therefore, any and all jealousy was confined to the brief moments when Erzsébet would bring him up, and additionally when he sat alone in his room, scrolling through her social media and refusing to ‘like’ their shared selfies. (Honestly, he couldn’t understand why anyone in their right mind would dream of cheating on Erzsébet – she was warm and supportive and beautiful, and there was simply no one like her). 

Oh, but Roderich Edelstein was a whole different story. 

On their first meeting, Erzsébet had casually grabbed Roderich’s arm a grand total of three times – Gilbert had counted – and once subtly nudged him and winked as if they were sharing some private joke that Gilbert didn’t know about. It seemed that only the annoyed reaction of Roderich’s own childhood best friend Basch Zwingli could curb Erzsébet’s tactility (Roderich himself didn’t really seem to care), for she laid off on the physical contact once she noticed him glaring.

The next time they met, Erzsébet stopped with what Gilbert believed was excessive flirting, but she seemed to find Roderich endlessly fascinating, which Gilbert simply couldn’t comprehend. Who cared if the guy was some kind of pianist prodigy? It didn’t change the fact that Gilbert had been the one to introduce Erzsébet to classical music. Besides, Roderich dressed like he was stuck in the 19th century, was utterly useless at everything besides music, and seemed more interested in marrying his piano than actually having a social life. 

So why did she bother?

The final straw came when Roderich gave them free tickets to attend one of his performances – an offer Gilbert only accepted because Erzsébet would be there as well – and she promptly spent the entire occasion watching in breathless, hushed wonder as Roderich played. Whenever a piece ended, she would clap enthusiastically and turn to Gilbert with words of praise flowing endlessly from her mouth, before the next piece would begin and she’d sit in complete silence, too entranced to even move. 

Which was why Gilbert promptly got up and left in the middle of Chopin’s “Wrong Note” Etude.

Okay, yeah, it was a stupid move. For one, even he was aware of how incredibly rude he was being – heck, he was particularly knowledgeable about how bad it was, since he’d been in recitals before and seen people walk off right as he went on stage. (Afterwards, he’d sit with Erzsébet and make up silly reasons for their departure, and they’d laugh and he’d forget how much it had hurt). 

On the other hand, pianists didn’t face the audience as they played and Roderich seemed wrapped up in his music, so he probably didn’t notice. The people who did were those sitting behind Gilbert who stared at him in mortified amazement as he squeezed his way through his row, between the backs of chairs and people’s knees, and made his escape from the concert hall. 

Their plan had been to join Roderich for a nice dinner at a nice restaurant with a nice view of the dark sky at night. But now Gilbert didn’t have a plan of his own – once he’d left the hall he broke into a run, racing past surprised people with their children and thudding down the escalators and pushing open the glass door as he ran out of the building towards the setting sun.

As the wind rushed past him and tore desperately at his starched shirt and polite dark pants, Gilbert felt his eyes warm with a stinging heat. It seemed there was sand in his eyes – that was the only possible explanation – and so he slowed to a walk, blinking stubbornly, unwilling to let anything get the better of him. 

If only Roderich weren’t there. Then it would just be just Gilbert and Erzsébet like the old times, neighbours and best friends who were always be there for each other, with nothing and no one coming between them.

If only –

The sound of footsteps right behind him made Gilbert turn in shock, and his hands trembled as he saw her approach, her chest heaving, her long tumbling hair messy and untidy as she clutched at the skirt of her once-elegant black dress.

And when Erzsébet looked up in worried concern and reached out and asked him what was wrong, Gilbert responded by launching into a rant about all the things that he hated about Roderich, and loudly wondered why Erzsébet was even friends with the man.

And that was what had led to their current argument.

xxx

“Well?” she demanded, taking a step towards him. “It’s not like you to be so quiet, Gilbert. I don’t buy anything you just said. I know you better than that. Why do you really have a problem with Roderich?”

When he opened his mouth to say, “Because I’m in love with you and you seem to like him more than me,” Gilbert messed up once more.

“If you’re so attached to him, why are you even here?” he exclaimed, and his hands balled into fists as he waited for Erzsébet to turn on her heel and march off like he suggested. “Right, Erzsi? Since he’s so cool and musical and great and everything, and you can’t shut up about him?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Look, Gilbert, you’re being – ”

“Why don’t you two just hook up already?” He was yelling, and people’s heads were flicking towards him, but Gilbert didn’t care. “Since you like him so much?”

A second passed. Another flew by. Somehow Erzsébet hadn’t walked off yet, but Gilbert was certain that it was going to happen soon. After which he’d be left alone to reflect on how he’d managed to put his foot in his mouth in the most spectacular way possible, and think about how he’d ruined the chances of them ever getting together. 

Then a sudden laugh interrupted his thoughts and he watched incredulously as his best friend tried, and failed, to hold back another chuckle.

…What?

“Oh, Gil,” she said, her eyes dancing with amusement, “You do know Roderich’s gay, right?”

Gilbert blinked. 

“No, I didn’t,” he said, and suddenly his opinion of Roderich Edelstein improved tremendously, now that he knew the other man wasn’t the subject of Erzsébet’s affections after all.

“So there’s nothing – I mean, you’re not interested in him?” he said, “Because that was basically the impression I was getting all this while.” 

The moment the words left his mouth, Gilbert realised that Erzsébet understood more than what he had intended – she’d always been shrewd, even if no one gave her credit for it – and her eyes widened in comprehension.

“No,” she said quietly. “Does that make you hate him less?”

Unable to hold back the blush that crept insidiously across his face, Gilbert slowly nodded, and waited for her to react.

A smile played at Erzsébet’s lovely lips.

“That’s good,” she said. “I still expect you to apologise to him for walking out halfway, though.”

Wincing at the memory, Gilbert sighed, and nodded again. “Fine, I’ll do it at dinner.”

He turned to go, but Erzsébet gently caught his arm in one swift movement, slowing him down. 

“About that,” she said, walking to his side, “I forgot to mention that we won’t see him at dinner.”

“Why?” Gilbert asked, before the implication of her words hit him. “Wait, we’re going to the restaurant alone?” The very idea made his face redden further.

With Erzsébet’s arm in his, they started walking back to the building. “Yeah. You see, Roderich’s been crushing on Erika’s brother Basch for ages, and we made an agreement that he’d confess after the concert today. If he texted me to say he was showing up, that’d mean he was unsuccessful.” Erzsébet giggled. “But apparently Basch asked him out yesterday, so they’re already a couple. I was sure it’d turn out that way – did you see the way Basch looked at him?”

“Nope, wasn’t paying attention,” said Gilbert. He’d been too busy watching her.

“And, well…” Suddenly, Erzsébet stopped moving, and Gilbert turned to her in confusion. “I’ll let you in on a secret.”

For some reason, she was blushing as well, and her eyes gazed deeply into Gilbert’s even as her smile softened into shyness. “It was a mutual agreement. I’m supposed to confess to you as well.”

_Wha –_

“But, somehow,” whispered Erzsébet, raising a hand to cup one of Gilbert’s flushed cheeks, “I don’t think that will be a problem either.”

And she leaned up to kiss him.

As it was, that night’s dinner became their first official date, and as Gilbert ignored the food in favour of swimming in his girlfriend’s gaze and running his hands through her hair, he smiled in contentment.

It seemed everything had turned out alright after all.


End file.
